Wolfshund Days
by Nova Bucker
Summary: Fate is often a harsh and cruel mistress, dashing lives, destroying hopes, and leaving those in its wake unable to do more than gather up the pieces. One is cast adrift to a sea of change, in the wake of one's crushing failure, without warning or quarter, and oft expect to perish. But sometimes, Fate can be kind, and every once in a while, Fate will throw the dog a bone. AU
1. Filling the Void

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the X-Men, the whole franchise belongs to Marvel and whoever has the rights to movies/media/whatever of it at the moment.

**A/N:** Wolfshund is the google translated word for Wolfdog everybody, just to clarify. Also, this is a writing experiment, a fun writing experiment, and I invite everybody to enjoy! The brevity, choppiness and grammar(of this particular chapter) is messy on purpose, because not everyone writes a journal neatly you know(read the chap to find out who's journal)? Essentially this is a prequel to something I haven't written yet because I need a break from Joss Whedon breaking my heart and stomping it to pieces with every new installment of 'Agents of SHIELD', so enjoy everyone! =)

**UPDATED CHAPTER on** 5/24/2014

* * *

**Filling the Void**

_**Log Entry 480: DAY 2  
**__Mission was a bust, squad's dead, universe was doomed, blacked out, then woke up in the middle of the woods a few days ago. Turns out I'm not dead after all, not sure how I feel about that._

_I must catalogue all that I remember, will list important things as follows:_

_-I am Saarloos_

_-I am a female Wolfdog hybrid of the Canine Kingdoms_

_-I had 1 litter of three (Zuul, Agnes, and Elise)_

_-my children are dead_

_-my squad had six members: myself, Dawes, Mamoru, Crow, Holly, and Renard (we were the sixteenth squad, also known as the Savage 6)_

_-we worked for the Pack Protectorate, who tried to become Gods and destroy the universe in the process, and we became fugitives trying to save the world_

_-as far as I know, we failed_

_-my team is dead_

_-I still have my bag(very singed), though it only contained my journal, a metal pen, my harness, and the charm the Renard gave me._

_-my Talent is still weak as is the rest of me, but I can still use it to write_

_-my Talent is electrokinesis_

_-I don't know where I am or how I got here_

_INJURY LIST: All ribs are cracked; legs ache, multiple sprains in legs are most probable, more scratches and bruises than I care to count, and massive nausea and disorientation upon awakening after the Event._

_Found what looks to be an abandoned farmland, and am staying in the old house, will have to hunt for food soon. _

_Drank from the old stock pond, got sick, now I feel like shit.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 481: DAY 5  
**__Couldn't risk drinking from old stock pond again, never again. Found a river 6 furlongs away, drank and rinsed fur because being caked in dirt and blood (mine and my enemies) isn't any fun after a few days. Explored the rest of the remains of the farm today, tried for squirrels but I still can't run very fast, ended up eating greens and roots I dug up today.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 482: DAY 9  
**__Caught some birds and fish, aggravated my ribs and shoulder, hurts like being trampled. Found a hard road, like to imperial roads, but it's black and it smells like burning tar. Will explore further at a later date, injuries are acting up.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 483: DAY 11  
**__Found metal signs along the road, curious, metal and the metalworking needed is really expensive, why would there be a bunch in the middle of nowhere? But the language is entirely foreign, I can't read it at all. Almost got run over by what looked like a very fast cart, only it smelt of metal, oil and fumes. I'm starting to get the feeling that I may not be anywhere near the home…_

_Will search for civilization more tomorrow, much of the day is spent looking for food. (Fish, birds, roots, and greens).  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 484: DAY 15  
**__Found civilization today, a town, but its inhabitants are the likes of which I've never seen before. They remind me of Chimps from the Primate Kingdoms, except the Natives are mostly hairless, walk exclusively upright, at an average I come up to a few inches below their shoulders of an adult in terms of height, and they speak in a language that is __**just**__ dissilmilar enough from mine that I can't understand it. The language is similar, but the verbs, grammar and names of things are garbled to the Pits, joy of joys._

_I think I'll call the natives Flatfaces, because, well, their faces __**are**__ much flatter than any other Primate species I've ever seen or read about.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 485: DAY 17  
**__Made an error today, tried to speak to a Flatface for directions, only for him to panic and run away. I tried again with a female, to even more panic, so I headed back to the farm.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 485: DAY 18  
**__It was a mistake to interact with the Flatfaces, apparently they have downsized hand-cannons and have attempted to hunt me. I haven't seen Hand-cannons since my last visit to the Primate Kingdoms, and the Flatfaces' weapons seem to shoot tiny pellets of metal at extremely high speeds that hand-cannons have never reached. But they aren't very good hunters, but their attempts to kill me are getting a bit irritating, and their weapons are nothing to sneeze at (which probably makes up for their poor hunting skills now that I think about it). But I can hear and smell them coming from furlongs away, so I still have the advantage.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 486: DAY 24  
**__Ate some badger, and wounds are getting better. Not limping anymore.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 487: DAY 52  
**__I have come to a disquieting revelation today._

_All the Races' equivalents(including mine) here aren't sapient. _

_I remember Renard attempting to explain the concept to the rest of the squad, but none of us taking him too seriously (it still hurts to think of them, any of them). I found another dog today, but in its eyes it was nothing but an animal, a happy, domesticated animal (which I observed later), but entirely non-sapient._

_I have observed the same phenomenon with cats and foxes as well. I also observed more Flatfaces, from a distance this time of course. _

_After several weeks of observation, I conclude that there aren't any other sapient species inhabiting this land other than its Flatfaces. While my species and all the known Races are decidedly non-sapient, they are intelligent to a degree though, as much as a non-sapient being can be anyways._

_Also, all the Races' animal equivalents are __**much**__ smaller than their sapient counterparts, like kissing cousins or something._

_The hunters are also getting more persistent, I took a pellet to the leg a few days back. It hurt like an angry den-mother, before and after I pulled the pellet out._

_What a shitty day.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 488: DAY 55:  
**__Found a 'world' map at what looks like a publicized camping ground, it looks nothing like the Countries._

_I have a sinking feeling, and I can't shake the disquiet. I don't like it.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 489: DAY 57  
**__Still no signs of the other Races, or anything resembling the Countries or even their existence. Still can't read the Flatfaces' language/s, and the hunters are becoming a real pain in the rump._

_Good news of the day, my Talent's gaining strength again, which is good._

_I wish I could think of other good things about my situation.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 490: DAY 65  
**__Tried to talk to another Flatface, same results. Nearly killed by hunters again, they're really becoming a nuisance._

_Depression has definitely set in, I have been trying to avoid thought about the team, as well as the feeling of failure._

_I have concluded that the Flat-faces are the only sapients around her, and judging by their maps, the Countries don't exist. I thought about Renard's Talent when it fused with the Event nexus… It makes my head hurt.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 491: DAY 67  
**__Everything is gone, I've lost everything.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 492: DAY 76  
**__Have been eating my problems lately (at least the rabbits here don't taste different), and those hunters are really starting to get on my nerves.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry: 493: DAY 80  
**__I miss my team, and my pups.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 494: DAY 88  
**__It's getting colder, winter is probably coming soon. Though to be honest, I find it harder and harder to bring myself to care. I am just going through the motions of life, and all I can think is, 'what's the point? Everything and everyone that mattered is gone, why am I still here?'  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 495: DAY 95  
**__Some sort of Carnival or traveling show has parked right outside of the town, it brings the Flatfaces and their young to cluster throughout the day. There is a large tent in the center, where I think all the main acts perform, which makes me think Circus._

_The fat, male Flatface seems to run the show, given the way all the workers and performers defer to him when he raises his voice, which he does a lot. The show also has a lot of cages for sideshow attractions, with animals of different kinds, and bright colors of the likes I've never seen before._

_Never the less, I kept my distance.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 496: DAY 96  
**__I have been sneaking around the Circus at night, to keep my mind off of things._

_I saw another creature today, it didn't resemble the other Flatfaces at all. It smelt male, has dark, navy blue fur, yellow eyes, pointed ears located on the sides of its head, an unkempt mane of darker blue yet almost black hair, with digitigrade legs that end in two large toes, tridactyl hands (two fingers and a thumb on each hand) and a spaded tail. The Creature sat in a cage barely large enough for it to sit up, and it was around the size of one of the Flatfaces' smaller young, and the cage sat in the middle of what I assume to be a freakshow tent. It woke up and saw me, and it just stared. I ended up leaving it a couple of squirrels, the Creature was skin and bones and I went back to the farm afterwards._

_I debate on the Creature's possible sapience. But I'm probably just chomping at straws here.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 497: DAY 98  
**__Brought the Creature more food today, but the Creature is thinner today, I can count its ribs, and I can see signs of abuse. Scars, and an acrid scent that can only be acquired by lying in one's own waste, I could even smell the beginnings of infection. Animals or not, the Circus owner should take care of his assets, it was awful._

_I was uneasy about leaving.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 498: DAY 99  
**__The Creature is sapient._

_It was only a scant few words, but it spoke, and the language is the same as the Flatfaces, it's, no, __**he's**__ not allowed out of his cage. He reminds me of Zuul._

_The Fat Flatface beats him, and for what reasons I can only wonder. It's only a pup, his place was not in a cage to be poked and starved to death for the pleasure of others!_

_This __**will**__ not go on.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 499: DAY 100  
**__I killed the Fat Flatface today, by ripping out his throat and then twisting his neck until his head popped off._

_I released the animals as a distraction and opened the Pup's cage. Since the Circus proved to be inadequate caretakers I shall take over, carrying the Pup proved difficult due to the lack of a graspable scruff, so I carried him on my back._

_The Pup was reluctant to follow me, but came to me after some coaxing, and is generally very skittish, which made washing him in the river a bit more difficult. I can understand though, the wariness will go away soon, I hope. We still can't understand each other's languages, though, which is something I'll have to work through._

_His wounds required cleaning and covering but the infections on multiple cuts needed licking and chewed various herbs that I've found taste the same as the ones back home._

_But, today was a good day, I have a new pup!  
__**-S **_

_**Log Entry 500: DAY 110  
**__The Pup calls himself Kurt. Kurt won't eat the meat I give him though, and the first snow fell today. _

_I wonder if Flatfaces have a problem with meat?_

_Kurt eats everything else I give him though. Have started digging up orange-roots from gardens in scattered farms to stimulate mother's milk, have lost count how many I've eaten.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 501: DAY 124  
**__I'm happy today, Kurt talks more, and is eating more. I stole some blankets from town, for winter, and even convinced Kurt to eat the rabbit I caught for him. It took even more coaxing to get him to nurse, because any supplement would help, the game disappears quicker and quicker by the day.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 502: DAY 131  
**__Kurt ate his fish today, and is steadily gaining weight(GOOD THING). His fur isn't very thick and he gets cold more easily than I do (BAD THING), so I snagged garments from town to cover him up, because blankets are awkward to carry around, I finally noticed that the Flatfaces all wear clothes, all the time. Even the Primate Kingdoms Natives' didn't wear clothing that often. It's weird._

_Kurt and I have settled into a routine, that begun with breakfast foraging and hunting, forest runs, and ended with him curling up into my bellyfur with a blanket and sleeping.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 503: DAY 132  
**__Kurt goes on runs with me, and has taken to riding on my back during our particularly long treks. He shows amazing dexterity and agility, and has very silent strides. Very good traits to have in a world most likely racist to a frightening degree (how else can I explain the freakshow cage?) Though I don't have any concrete knowledge to how this place works._

_I've come up with the idea that I'm probably in another world or universe, somehow coming to the conclusion doesn't feel very comforting.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 504: DAY 133  
**__I cried last night, and I think I scared Kurt. I realized that I may never see home today, I need to hunt, clear my head. Kurt's still asleep, I'll be back soon Pup.  
__-__**S**_

_**Log Entry 505: DAY 134  
**__Kurt ate his rabbits and squirrels today, I'm so proud. I took him root digging before the woods are completely covered in snow._

_Kurt is picking up words quickly, though he still doesn't talk much. I'm picking up his language slower, but we can talk in simple sentences.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 506: DAY 136  
**__Winter has set in, full force. Snow is everywhere and Kurt plays, I killed a deer that took hours to track and plan to smoke it, cooked food can be traveled with after all. Kurt was very excited for the fire, it was very warm._

_Making a smoking rack was just as tedious and difficult as I remember, the only thing I ever envied Primates for were their opposable thumbs and I still do. My Talent, mouth and paws only get me by so far on dexterity._

_Kurt helped me by tying knots, his fingers and thumbs are much better at that kind of thing.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 507: DAY 140  
**__Been going farther and farther in search of game, and sneaking into town more often to pick up more of the language. Both Kurt's still thin and I've gotten thinner due to the lack of game lately, and the river has frozen over._

_I've taken to stealing more from the town, managing quite a few close calls, but I have a Pup to feed and the Natives are hostile and excitable as ever. Kurt even has a little satchel of his own now, though he's taken to carrying mine as well like it's his sworn duty. Due to my excursions to town, he now has a small collection of soft tunics, pants, and a few books I still can't read worth a damn._

_Kurt has initiative, good. He also knows to wait patiently and not leave the abandoned farm until I come back.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 508: DAY 145  
**__Kurt and I have eaten through the smoked deer and the marrow, enough scraps for breakfast, must go hunting again tomorrow.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 509: DAY 160  
**__No game, no fish, no vegetables to scavenge, we've been eating the things I can steal without raising a panic. Getting harder to wake up in the mornings, will probably both starve if this keeps up. Already giving most of my portions to Kurt, I think he noticed. I don't like it when my pups look guilty for eating when they can.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 510: DAY 180  
**__I killed the hunters, they took Kurt and almost killed him. I gave them no mercy, they threatened my Pup. I killed them quickly, and we have food tonight. The Flatfaces tasted very strange, but we avoided the brains, because Primate brains back home could give you Laughing Disease (taking no chances here). I don't like eating sapient things unless we have to, but I feel no remorse for where our dinner came from tonight.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 511: DAY 187  
**__We're going to move soon, my thievery in town of food and objects has not gone unnoticed. Have already packed all of Kurt's things and am stocking up travel food through hunting and stealing, mostly bread, canned vegetables, rabbits, hidden squirrels(as well as stealing the hidden nuts), and after we get a deer or some big game, we'll leave._

_The hunters' meat is going quicker than I'd like, though._

_Kurt's been getting clingier, though I think it's from the cold, note to self: find Kurt a warmer tunic and pants.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 512: DAY 199  
**__Brought down a larger sort of deer a few days ago, it had wide antlers, a dark brown pelt, and proportionally larger hooves, it was much more violent that a deer. It was actually genuinely terrifying to have a deer much taller than me try to run me over and gore me. I think it busted a rib or two._

_I'm calling them Widehorns._

_It took much longer to smoke and process. But for the past three days we've been eating like Kings. Today is a good day.  
__**-S**_

_**Log Entry 513: DAY 204  
**__We bid the farm where we've been staying farewell, and left. I would prefer somewhere where Kurt and I wouldn't get chased by overzealous hunters._

_Kurt called me Mother today, or something like that, if I've gotten the general impression right. He started calling me __**'Mutti'**__ which sounds strangely similar to mutton, and it makes hungry just thinking about it. _

_I will protect my new son, a no-one will take him away(lest they be killed or eaten__). __He is getting stronger and smarter by the day, and I will ensure that he grows up that way too._

_It feels good to be a mother again.  
__**-S**_

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, again, this is a writing experiment, and most of the choppiness and brevity in Saarloos's journal entries are entirely on purpose and totally a stylistic choice that I took. Yes this is essentially a reimagining of Kurt/Nightcrawlers's history, I am paying homage to his original backstory with several tweaks(I was actually kinda peeved when I was younger at how practically no backstories were ever explored in XMen Evo). Saarloos is from another universe(not a crossover), yaddayaddayadda, and yes she is a roughly tiger-sized, sapient wolf. Her world is inhabitant by other dominant, sapient animals that have counterparts in our world as non-sapient creatures.

This is still in the Evo-verse, and eventually I will get to what happened to Kurt's adoptive parents(because anyone's who's ever read the comics or wikipedia knows that the original Nightcrawler backstory is pretty dark ya know?), but that's for later, anyways, I would greatly appreciate feedback in the form of reviews and constructive criticisms telling me about the good, the bad, the ugly and the need to improve. So, 'til next time, ciao!


	2. Heaven Sent a Beast

**Disclaimer:** You all know the drill.

**A/N:** Been trying to fight off an oncoming cold for the past few days, and it's really kicking my ass. I just saw the 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' movie and it was AWESOME! Anyways, I bring forth the effort, woot. Fic is rated for violence, dark imagery, language, imperiled children(it's an origin story, duh) and all that dark stuff(I realize what a morbid person I am) Have fun everybody.

* * *

**Heaven Sent a Beast**

Kurt remembered very little of his parents, in his dreams his mother possesses a warm embrace and a gentle voice that used to sing to him; of his Father he remembers a kind face, belly-deep laughter, and wonderful stories.

The details of their faces however, remained obscured by memory, almost enough to make the child wonder if they'd ever been real.

Before Kurt had come to the Circus, he had precious few memories of his Mama and Vati, and their house. He remembered peeking at the outside world through tightly shut curtains and shutters, and the floral print walls of the kitchen. His parents had rarely let him outside, Kurt had always been sure that he would have remembered if they did otherwise. Kurt remembered being different from both his parents, being blue, fuzzy, and with strangely formed hands and feet, Kurt supposed that due to his very young age he never questioned it.

Around the age of two, Kurt remembers a mob of angry people, a fire, and screaming.

He remembers the smoke, the fear, Vati lying on the floor in a pool of red, the smell of blood and the screaming of his Mama and the mob outside ringing in his sensitive ears as the flames licked the walls. So much noise, so much fear, then all at once everything was quiet.

One second he was there, in his home as it burned, and the next he was _nowhere_.

Kurt didn't remember much other than his fear, how lost he'd been, and his tears. Kurt remembered being hungry, tired and lost, wandering around the woods to try to find his way home again. Then a woman called Margali had found him, taken him in, and he ended up joined the Circus.

The other performers had been like a second family to him, with no regard for his monstrous appearance and he was taught by some of the acrobats and they had promised a chance to be included in the act when he get older. He had a home and family again, Kurt had been happy.

Then the new owner came, he bought the whole Circus, and brought a whole slew of changes in the wake of the change in ownership. At first Kurt had paid little attention to the goings on, the hubbub would die down in a month or so, Kurt was wrong.

New performers were hired, and decidedly expendable ones were fired, new attractions were added, and everyone was needed. But when the Boss finally got around to turning his gimlet eyes in Kurt's direction, he said that Kurt had a place, in the Freakshow.

At first it hadn't been so bad, until Kurt realized that the cage which he'd been placed was to be his permanent residence. At first his family had complained, stood up, defended him, but eventually were either fired or silenced by the threat of destitution, formal educations among the older performers were scarcer and life in the Circus was all most of them knew.

Kurt wasn't allowed out of his cage, not even after all the visitors were gone, and the Boss had taken his shirt away. The only time the boy left his cage, was when he made the Boss unhappy, like if he was 'cheeky' or ungrateful, and on those days Kurt would have to gingerly avoid pressing his bruises by leaning against the cage bars during the day.

Margali made would bring him food, more water, and a blanket, even though some of the meaner, new performers would eventually steal it. Kurt came to dread the inevitable dark glare of the Boss when he would catch sight of Margali helping him, or any signs of her kindness. Sometimes she would come by all ruffled, huffing with anger and something else that Kurt didn't know the words for, and when asked, she would just smile tiredly, ruffle his hair, and hug the five year-old through the cage bars.

After Margali would leave, Kurt often wondered what he'd done wrong, what bad thing he'd done to deserve being locked up.

Margali never stopped trying though, Kurt remembered her multiple confrontations with the Boss about Kurt, the screaming matches that seemed to all but escalate into violence. Kurt couldn't remember how long they went on for, but he remembered when they _stopped_.

Soon there came the day Margali stopped coming, but more than that, Margali was _gone_.

Kurt remembers that day, when early in the morning, he was dragged bodily from his cage by his tail and both his hands tied to a post outside. Kurt was barely half awake, responding to his rude awakener with a timidly muttered _"vas?"_

The strike was not unexpected, but it was not a fist, but a belt, with a metal buckle that broke the skin of his back.

The child had cried out in pained surprise.

"Animals. Don't. Speak." The Boss punctuates each word with another strike, his face red with exertion, and a heavy buckle breaks through more of the skin and fur as the child below cries in pain. The beating that followed, what felt like endless strikes of sharp fire on his back and his legs, resulted in the child weeping as quietly as he possibly could as he lay on the ground, and allowed himself to be dragged back to his cage by one of the other performers.

Kurt doesn't know how long he laid there on the ground, unmoving, all he knew was that _everything_ _hurt_.

The days that followed seemed uncountable, after his clothes were taken away he was never given new ones, and he was fed little. Kurt wasn't sure when he'd started to ignore the ache of hunger, and the days would blur together, in a never ending cycle of morning mush and water, when the Circus was open, and Moving Days.

Sometimes the Boss would visit to punish him, Kurt never knew what he did wrong, but he was always sorry. Sometimes Kurt prayed like he remembered doing with his Mother what felt like forever ago, to God, to anyone that would have them.

He stopped talking, because animals don't speak.

Some days Kurt dreamt that Margali comes back, to take him away with her to somewhere, Kurt would've been fine with anywhere but where he was now.

But in the end they remained as just they were, dreams, and the days dragged onward, until Kurt ran out of numbers he knew and could no longer count them.

Never ending.

OOOOO

It was after closing time, and he was being watched.

It was odd because no-one was ever there after the animal caretakers left, and the night would be silent until opening time unless it was a Moving Day.

Who would watch him?

The child catches a glimpse, a brief flash of a large, silent figure and glinting green eyes in the darkness and then it's gone, and there are dead squirrels in front of his cage.

By morning, the squirrels are thrown away and then the caretakers had decided that it was a Bath Day and Kurt spends the rest of the brisk autumn day shivering and sneezing and life went on.

OOOOO

A day and a night pass and Kurt is convinced that the figure had been a dream, nothing but another wishful thought.

Then Kurt wakes up to soft scuffling, and to the feeling of being watched.

_But who would-?_

The child turns his yellow-eyed gaze toward the large figure illuminated by the open tent-flap, real as anything, and he is afraid.

Standing in the pale moonlight, was the largest wolf that Kurt had ever seen, larger than any dog, with sharp black claws and glinting eyes of pale green. It's large, lupine head is accented by its scarred, notched ears and its mouth full of large white fangs.

Had a monster come to eat him? The wolf of his mother's tales come to life? Had the wolf who ate bad little boys come to finally kill him?

The eight year-old Kurt briefly thinks that it won't be so bad, that at least he wouldn't have to live in a cage anymore, he wouldn't need to eat, _'yes,'_ he thinks as he closes his eyes and waits, _'I'd be happier dead.'_

And nothing happens.

Kurt cracks an eye open and catches sight of the wolf walking away, squirrels left again at the foot of his cage.

Morning catches up to him soon enough, the Boss punishes Kurt, and Kurt wishes that the Wolf had never left.

He cries for the first time since Margali left and he doesn't really know why, it disturbs the caretakers greatly, but Kurt doesn't take any notice.

OOOOO

Animals can't talk, but the Wolf had _spoken_, Kurt thinks that the Wolf is a she, because despite the deeper, growly quality, she still _sounded_ female in some way that Kurt wasn't sure he could describe. Kurt cannot understand her words, but they are words all the same.

The Wolf had come back with squirrels again the next night, and seemed to regard him curiously.

It felt like forever since Kurt had been talked to, not at. He wanted her to speak to him, animals could speak to each other right? It should be alright.

"_H-Hallo,"_ Kurt voice croaks out in broken German, _"meine Name is-ist K-Kurt."_

The She-Wolf jerks, as if in surprise to receiving a response, and stares at him, poking her monstrous muzzle through the cage bars and Kurt marvels at the size, his head could easily fit into her jaws with room left to spare. The boy wonders if she was going to bite him, crush his head like an egg, to put him out of his misery, but instead receives a lick to his forehead, before the She-Wolf turns and dashes away without warning.

Kurt knew that the next evening was a Moving Day, and that meant he'd never see the She-Wolf again. The happiness was not meant to last, _'not for freaks,'_ Kurt supposed with some finality.

None the less, he didn't sleep very well that night either.

OOOOO

By the next evening, the whole Circus was in chaos when Kurt had woken up from a rare afternoon nap, all the other cages were empty and the animals ran amok.

And there she was, the She-Wolf in broad daylight, whose foreign tongue slipped soothingly out of her blood-spattered muzzle as she grips a corner of his cage with her teeth-

**SHHHCREEEEK!**

-And rips the door clean from its lock and hinges.

Her pelt is a mottled mix of dark and lighter browns, her muzzle and throat are wet with fresh blood and Kurt spends moments wondering if she'd finally come to kill him. But then the She-Wolf lays down upright, her belly to the dirt, and jerks her head, gesturing towards herself.

_Come with me._

The message was clear as day, as the all the Circus hands' ran around trying to recapture the frantic animals, as the She-Wolf regarded Kurt quietly.

He stares shyly, wide yellow eyes unblinking, as if she would disappear into thin air at a moment's notice.

She gestures again, green eyes glinting warmly.

Kurt snaps out of his stupor, and tries to get up, but his legs cramp up after a few steps, their obvious disuse evident, so he crawls out of his cage toward her, but she shuffles closer, and Kurt's three-fingered hands grasp at the scruff of her neck fur. The child swings a leg over her back as the warmth of her thick fur wafts through his thin blue fur, making Kurt feel warmer than he's been in a long time, maybe even warmer than he'd been before the Boss took away all his clothes.

Then the She-Wolf stands, and Kurt can feel the muscles in her back and shoulders ripple as she trots quickly towards the edge of the forest ahead. Her gait smoothens as the night falls, Kurt half expects the Boss or the caretakers to come and take him back, but surprisingly they are nowhere to be seen.

Kurt doesn't wonder at whose blood adorns the She-Wolf's muzzle and throat fur, as he locks his arms around her neck as she walks, and the She-Wolf rumbles quietly.

He didn't know where the She-Wolf was taking him, but Kurt decided to dwell on this happy dream, for as long as he could make it last, that heaven had heard his little prayers, and sent a beast in reply, as she takes them both further and further into the forest, farther and farther away, travelling well into the night.

* * *

**A/N:** Poor Kurt, don't worry it's not a dream you poor baby. But yeah, this chapter is in a more traditional format than the first chapter (which btw I've edited a bit, so check it out) because I roll like that. Also, yeah, Saarloos is large, and looks even larger because Kurt is a tiny eight year old (two years of being underfed will do that to a growing child you know). Also, tell me what you think ladies, gents and etceteras, was it good? Bad? Mediocre? Why? What did you like? What did you hate? What did you like to hate? If there were bad things, how can they be improved? Answer those questions be way of review please (if you want to), and if you just love the chapter and just have kind words of encouragement to say then by all means say them, and stay tuned until next time peeps! Ciao!


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